Thinking in Fruits
by TinyAppleSlice
Summary: In which girls are smoothies. And Logan begins to think in an extremely peculiar way. JOGAN (Logan POV)


**Thinking in Fruits**

Summary:

In which girls are smoothies. And Logan begins to think in an extremely peculiar way. JOGAN (Logan POV)

* * *

Perhaps it was inevitable that he fell in love with her. After all, of the three awesome girls in his friend group, each with her own undeniable charm, she was the only one eligible.

Lindy was... his twin sister. There was simply no other way to describe her. Even _considering_ dating her would be like ordering a smoothie at Rumble Juice he's had everyday for the past 15 years, enough to get sick of it. Of course, there was certainly nothing _wrong_ with this smoothie; it was positively likable to many other people. But… even the thought of ordering this smoothie again would make him want to upchuck his preferred rich-in-fiber morning cereal. And with the blood-relation thing… For him, drinking this smoothie would just be gross and out-of-the-question.

Thinking about dating Delia would be like guzzling down a passion fruit, papaya, guava, licorice, spinach, pea, cauliflower, feet, green tea smoothie, maybe with a little piranha fat mixed in. Sure, Logan was a brave guy, but swallowing up this smoothie would take serious guts. And he was pretty sure Brandon already had his eye on the colorful concoction sitting on the counter. Taking this smoothie from right under his nose would be a major violation of the 10 Commandments of Bro-Code, otherwise known as the Guy-ble. Never take food from another bro. NEVER.

* * *

It took a while for him to find his perfect smoothie. Beforehand, he experimented with several other flavors and various fruit combinations, but they never quite fit.

One day, he sidled up to the cashier and ordered a Just Peachy smoothie, but… Rumble Juice was fresh out of peaches. Shrugging, he changed his order to a cranberry-flavored slush. It's not like he was that attached to peaches anyways.

"Cranberry?" Lindy's face crinkled up in disgust when she saw the blood-red mixture clutched in Logan's hand. "I hate cranberries."

Lindy disliked a smoothie flavor?! Usually she tried them with reckless abandon, always approving no matter the taste. He stared at the cup suspiciously, wondering what was wrong with it. Actually, the pretty crimson drink was one of the better-looking smoothies, and everyone always gushed about how nice the flavor was. One time, a lost lunch lady had wandered into Rumble Juice after school, and when she picked up her cranberry-filled beverage, she found five dollars stuck to the bottom. And cranberry was a classic; it was never absent from the store's menu. Why in the world would Lindy hate it so much?

Giving Lindy a pointed look, Logan took a sip confidently. It was good. It was great! It was… horrendous. The aftertaste was just… ugh. Did the smoothie even contain real cranberries? The drink seemed so fake, like it was trying to be everything it was not. What did everyone see in this… this thing? He coughed up the rest as Lindy grinned triumphantly at his reaction.

* * *

His second attempt at a smoothie epiphany did not go well either.

A perky Rumble Juice employee had asked him to try a smoothie sample, and Logan, being the kind, amazing, helpful, and _thirsty_ person he was, simply could not refuse.

Tentatively, he took a small taste. This was… This was… the best smoothie flavor he'd ever had! Before he could ask the employee which glorious menu item it was, Jenna, his current attraction, pushed a Blueberry Blast into his arms.

"You'll love it." She smiled prettily. "It's my favorite."

Again, Logan was not a refusal type of guy, so he gave Jenna a grin and set the sample down on the table. Not wanting to look hesitant in front of his crush, he immediately took a gulp of the attractive indigo blend.

"It's good!" he said, playing up the charm.

And that was the truth. The blueberries were sweet, not sour at all. But… something was off. The taste just wasn't… right for him. He'd wanted a Blueberry Blast ever since the new addition appeared on the menu last week, but maybe what he wanted wasn't really what he wanted after all. And he faintly recalled a better flavor…

Logan put his hand on his forehead, confused. He felt like he was forgetting to do something crucial.

"Brain freeze?" Jenna asked, concerned.

Logan shook his negative thoughts off and smiled. "No, it's nothing. Let's head to the movie."

The two happily walked out of the juice business, hand-in-hand. Meanwhile, the sample was left on the table, alone.

* * *

"Third time's the charm, right?" Logan told himself as he walked through Rumble Juice's inviting doorway.

Earlier this week, Lindy had passed him a survey with some startlingly strange questions.

"It's for Delia's psychology class," Lindy stated, as if that explained everything.

One question, in particular, was running through Logan's mind at the moment: if you could be any fruit, what fruit would you be? Logan had picked banana, without hesitation. After all, what other fruit mimicked Logan's awe-inspiring blond hair with its bright yellow banana peel? Could another fruit mirror Logan's laziness for standing up straight? And following peeling off the divine yellow marvellousness, the banana was just a big softie on the inside, just like Logan. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Due to this bizarre survey, Logan was craving banana today. His blue pools lit up as he spied a banana crème smoothie with a little NEW sticker on the menu.

As Garrett proudly handed him his order (Garrett had just cut up a shit ton of bananas, so this was an exciting time for him), Logan gladly took a sip. And it was delicious. Exactly aligned with his tastes.

"How is it?" Garrett nervously asked. Hopefully, his curled up fingers had made the smoothie properly.

"Tasty!" Logan exclaimed, oblivious to Garrett's subsequent sigh of relief.

In fact, the smoothie was so enjoyable that Logan came back every day for two weeks just to have it. Banana crème was so beautiful in it's simplicity. So dumbed down to basic ingredients. And had so much in common with Logan. Logan shook his head. That wasn't right. Banana crème had so much in common with Logan's soul fruit, banana. The relationship between Logan and banana crème was, in one word, incredible.

But… after those awesome first two weeks, that relationship went downhill.

After a notably bland slurp, Logan decided to pop the question. "Did you change anything in this?" he asked Garrett, pointing to the light yellow smoothie in his hand.

The brunet shook his head. "I don't think so. I used all of the same ingredients."

"Hmm." Logan sat down, disappointed. Still, for the next couple of days he continued to order banana crème, hoping the taste would regain its former awesomeness. It never did. In actuality, the taste was gradually becoming worse. It became too matchy-matchy with Logan's soul fruit. Too demanding of a taste, if that were even possible.

Finally, Logan quit banana crème. "I'm done," he said, exasperated. Garrett, observing Logan's little tirade, wanted to help his bro out.

"Why don't you try strawberry banana?" Garrett offered. "Shelley said that you seemed to really like it before."

"Who's Shelley?" Logan asked, genuinely bewildered.

"A new employee we've been training. She handed out smoothie samples a while back."

Ohhhhhhh! Logan had completely forgotten about that glorious smoothie sample. His mouth was salivating just imagining the taste. Immediately, he ordered a strawberry banana, knowing, somehow, that this smoothie would be different from the rest.

Since Garrett had become busy with other orders, Betty was the one who set Logan's smoothie on the counter. Giving him a knowing look, she matter-of-factly stated, "It's about time."

Logan, perplexed, mistakenly told Betty that the time was 5:30 in the afternoon. Unaware of Betty's rolling eyes, he turned his attention to his rose-colored thirst-quencher.

Once Logan took a sip, it was like heaven on Earth. This. Smoothie. Was. Perfect. He could never get sick of the taste. It was new. Creative. Fun. Yet, in some way, still in Logan's comfort zone. Logan and strawberry banana had _chemistry_. No doubt, he would order it every day until the end of time. He closed his eyes, savoring the refreshing taste. Drinking this one smoothie completely ruined all other smoothies for him. It was that good. Containing just enough of his soul fruit, yet blended with sugary, blushing strawberries that reminded him of a certain someone, the smoothie was absolutely his perfect drink. He had finally found the one.

* * *

On the second day of his strawberry banana craze, Jasmine joined him on the blue Rumble Juice couch. She with her assorted fruits and nuts, and he with his magical pink beverage.

"Strawberry banana?"

Logan merely nodded, too intoxicated by the smoothie to give an adequate reply. He leaned back and just let the strawberry banana blow his mind.

He must have made a funny face, because Jasmine let out a little peal of laughter. No pun intended.

"I love strawberry banana. I've had it every day for the past couple of months." She admitted, smiling her beautiful Jasmine smile.

"Then maybe we could – " Before he was able to say, "have some together next Tuesday," Jaz suddenly interrupted.

"But," she said a bit hesitantly, picking her magenta smoothie off the table and gesturing, "Owen convinced me to try a new flavor today. Strawberry kiwi."

"Owen?" he asked, his fingers unconsciously clenching into fists. He didn't like when Jasmine mentioned other guys. He didn't like it at all.

"My new boyfriend," Jasmine exclaimed excitedly. A tall, handsome teen, with a tropical kiwi concoction in one hand, tapped Jasmine's shoulder, and she jumped. Her look of alarm disappeared when she recognized his face.

"Which reminds me," she laughed as she hurriedly threw her healthy snacks into her bag, "we're going to be late for our movie. Can you believe we both like movies?"

"Sounds like a… great match." Logan forced a grin.

Jasmine finished collecting her things and gave Logan a small wave as the couple walked out of Rumble Juice, a lone banana left forgotten by Jasmine in her rushed getaway.

Owen put his arm around Jasmine, and the two smiled at each other on the way to the movie theater, leaving Logan, and the banana, alone.

* * *

Garrett danced to the barely-there music playing in the smoothie shop. Or at least, he _tried_ to. The foregone result was him tripping over an obnoxious chair leg and knocking over the fruit basket on the front counter.

"Gosh darn it," he moaned as various food items rolled everywhere. "Hey Logan, could I get some help here?"

Logan, still on the couch with only a banana to keep him company, snapped out of his depressed spell and let out a quick, "I'm on it."

Stepping over a fallen kiwi (after all, he was not obligated to pick up _that guy's_ soul fruit), Logan got on his hands and knees and reached for a strawberry that rolled ever so closer to him. After he gently saved it from being squished by an unsuspecting customer, he held it up near his face. Then, he got scarily quiet for several moments.

In fact, he stared at the strawberry for so long that Garrett had finished picking up the rest of the produce.

"Err, Logan?" Garrett peered at Logan's blank face.

All of a sudden, Logan let out a loud guffaw that echoed throughout the entire store, shocking many, if not all, of the smoothie-drinkers into silence.

"DAMN IT! I WOULD BE INSANE IF I LET THAT… THAT… KIWI STEAL _MY_ STRAWBERRY AWAY!"

Logan had finally gotten what Betty was trying to say. Unfortunately, he was also in a very, _very_ public place.

After shooting Logan a multitude of strange looks, the crowd gradually lost interest and got back to talking. Garrett, getting over his initial surprise, tentatively gave Logan a smile.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure you're already insane, bud."

Logan grinned in reply. To him, at least, all of these fruit references were starting to make sense.

* * *

Perhaps it was inevitable he fell in love with strawberry banana. Because he was the banana. And she, his perfect smoothie – Logan shook his head again, he needed to find the right word… – girl, was his ever-delectable strawberry.

 _~ Fin ~_

* * *

Author's Note:

Reviews are appreciated! This is probably one of the weirdest stories I've ever written, so any kind of feedback is welcome. If you didn't realize the first time through **Thinking in Fruits** , each smoothie Logan experimented with before finding strawberry banana represented a girl in his love life. In no particular order:

Sherri - Cranberry Slush

Jasmine - Strawberry Banana Sample

Jenna - Blueberry Blast

Erin - Banana Crème

Later, fruits came to symbolize people.

Logan - Banana

Jasmine - Strawberry

Owen - Kiwi

If you didn't catch the subtle (excuse me, subTle) hints in the story the first time, I don't blame you. I made the symbolization a bit confusing. Read **Thinking in Fruits** a second time then. I assure you, you'll have that "Aha!" moment.

Thanks for reading! ~ TinyAppleSlice


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